She was a certified teacher?

[herbivorie]

This person was a teacher of Japanese, but she is not anymore.
She has a certification to teach Japanese, which does not expire.

In this case,

1. She used to be a certified teacher of Japanese.
2. She was a certified teacher of Japanese.

I'm not sure about two things.
One is if I should use "used to" or "was".
The other is if these sentences mean she doesn't have the certification anymore. (I'm looking for a way to say she doesn't teach anymore, but she still has the certificate, in one sentence.)

 

[Raymott]

"She is a certified teacher of Japanese, but she no longer teaches." I don't think that's a contradiction, any more than "She's a trained nurse, but she's working as a parking inspector at the moment."
You can use "used to be" or 'was', depending on the context, but 'is' is more correct until she dies, given that the certification doesn't expire.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Is it correct to say 'she is a former certified teacher of Japanese' to express the OP's intended meaning?

 

[bhaisahab]

Is it correct to say 'she is a former certified teacher of Japanese' to express the OP's intended meaning?

No. That suggests that she is no longer certified.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'She is a former teacher but still certified.'
How about this?

 

[Raymott]

What you say about her depends upon the needs of the moment. Yes, you can say that, but it leaves out 'Japanese'.

 

[Tdol]

I would be more likely to use #2.